Dark Storms, Volume Two: The Abyss
by dreamersrequiem
Summary: Melinda is on the run. Not just from the bad guy, but from her friends, too. She has to find a way to stop Austen, convince her friends she's not evil, and save the world. With a little help along the way, of course.
1. Chapter 1

**Sequel to Dark Storms, Volume One: Edge of the Knife**

ONE

Teleportation was not, yet, a power I was used to. Which meant, if I tried to teleport myself, I could have ended up anywhere. Hiro had already warned me of that. He'd also told me that, as he had never been to London, it was possible we'd end up lost in time anyway. But he had a better chance of getting us there than I did.

"It's the only way we can move without being noticed," I pointed out. "The only safe way for me." I turned to Matt. "You should go home. Look after Molly."

"You sure?"

I nodded. "Positive. I'll try to keep in touch. Promise."

"Good luck, Mel." He held his hand out and I smiled before throwing my arms around him and squeezing.

"Thank you," I said. "For everything."

We pulled away and Hiro put his hand on Matt's shoulder. Seconds later they were gone, leaving me alone, standing beside the Hollywood sign and staring out over LA.

Before everything had gone to hell, I'd wanted to come up here with Peter. We could have teleported, or flown. Magical, romantic, cheesy, sure. But hey, I was eighteen. I was allowed to think of roses and chocolates and a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Well…

Not anymore.

No more thoughts of romantic moments, no more feeling jealous about Becky and Sam, Rin and Eddie. Time to grow up, to pull my head out of the clouds and work out a way to stop the future I had seen from happening.

Hiro appeared at my side. He stood with his hands in his pockets, staring down at the twinkling lights.

"You miss them?"

"Already?" I turned to him, made myself smile. It didn't fool him, and it didn't make me feel any better. So I dropped it. "Yeah, I do. All of them. I can't believe they'd think that of me."

"They'll come around."

"You saw the future, Hiro. They wanted to kill me."

"They couldn't find you," he said. "Not from what I saw…"

I shook my head. "They found me. They will find me. Eventually. I'd never seen such hatred."

"We can change the future. I have, before."

"You really think we can do this?"

He nodded. "We will. Your friends will come around."

"How though?"

"We will figure it out. You wanted to go to London?"

I nodded. "You seen Leicester Square? Where they have all the premieres?"

Hiro shook his head. "Trafalgar Square, yes. Not Leicester."

"Let's go there then."

Hiro nodded, reached out and grabbed my shoulder. The world swam around me, around us, and suddenly we were standing in the middle of the square, in the middle of the night, with only a few drunks stumbling around. One stopped, blinked at us, and carried on.

I fell to my knees, trying not to throw up. Hiro looked around, his eyes falling on one of the statues.

"That does not fit in."

I looked to where he was pointing, spotting a giant blue chicken on top of the forth plinth. "I think they're changing it every so often," I explained, getting to my feet and taking big, deep breaths. "We need a pay phone. Come on."

Hiro followed close behind me as I headed up the steps towards the gallery. There had only been a few times when I'd come this far into London, always with Becky and Rin, sometimes with Eddy and Sam tagging along, too.

There was a sharp needle-like pain inside my head. I skidded to a stop, opening my mind, just a little.

_Melinda, where are you?_

Hiro was staring at me, looking worried as I broke into a smile.

_Trafalgar Square_.

_I thought you were close_. I listened carefully to the directions I was given, before shutting my mind off again, didn't want anyone tracking us, finding us because I was stupid. With a smile, I grabbed Hiro's hand and yanked him away.

X X X 

The bar we ended up in, after a few stops and changes on the tube, was dank, smelly and not at all like the trendy places found closer to the heart of the city. I scanned the room quickly, knowing she wouldn't recognise me. I'd changed my hair to bright pink, short, spiky, and added some tattoos across my arms.

One of the best ways to hide was to make myself stand out more than anyone else.

Dr Dust sat in the corner, nursing a glass of wine. Dragging Hiro with me, I headed towards her, watching as she looked up and spotted me. She smiled, relief flooding her face as we reached the table. She was up in seconds, wrapping her arms around me.

"Oh, Mel," she said. "I'm so glad you're safe."

When we pulled away, I gestured to Hiro. "Dr Dust, this is Hiro."

They shook hands.

"Pleasure to meet you, Hiro."

He dipped his head, before the three of us sat down. Dust turned to me. "I've spoken to the others."

Hiro winced, tilting his head to stare at the table. I fixed my gaze on Dust, opened my mind. She waved a hand through the air.

"You don't need to do that, Melinda. What do you think happened to them?"

Hiro's head snapped up and I smiled, feeling so damn happy that at least there was someone who still believed me, who still believed in me.

"I don't know. We think something happened…"

"Brainwashed," Hiro said. "We think they were brainwashed. Parkman said reading their minds was…different."

"They didn't sound right, either," she said. "On the phone. It was like…their voices had the right emotion, almost, but not quite. Just a tiny bit too flat." She frowned, staring into the distance as she drummed her fingers on the table. "I have no doubt that someone out there wants you alone, Mel. They want you isolated."

"All they had to do was get to a couple of them," I said. "If Peter, Rin and Becky were turned against me…"

"The others would believe them," she muttered. "And you're right. Rin and Becky would be more likely to give you the benefit of the doubt. Sam and Eddy…they trust those two. Not more than they trust you, but, well…"

"Sam's in love with Becky," I said. "And Eddy with Rin. Of course they're going to believe them."

"What about Peter? Why would he need to be brainwashed?"

Hiro grinned, turning his head away and whistling, acting all innocent.

My mentor and teacher, who had never met Peter, who knew only bits and pieces about him, stared at me with wide eyes. "Mel?"

"We were captured together," I explained. "And there were times when…when…"

"When they were alone," Hiro cut in, stretching the last word out. "Peter and Melinda connected, Ms Dust. I think he liked her, very much."

I felt heat on my cheeks, felt how red they were going as she looked at me. "And you, Mel? Did you like him back?"

And I'm crying, the full extent of everything hitting me in those few words. As I wonder if Peter will ever look at me with love again, or if my vision of the future is now set in stone, if all I will ever get is hatred from him.

"We'll fix it, Melinda," she said, reaching across the table and taking my hand. "We will fix it. You have a lot of people supporting you. Matt, Hiro, Claire, Mohinder."

"Mohinder!" I gasped, the tears stopping. My chest felt tight, constricted. "Mohinder, how is he?"

"He's doing okay. Getting used to his powers. He lost the serum though."

"I know."

Hiro sighed, leaning back and shaking his head. "The future…"

"Is dark, bleak and horrible," I said. "But we'll change it, right? We have to." 

"How, though? We do not even know how it got that way."

I looked at Dr Dust. Marie Dust, the woman who had plucked me out of the orphanage and taken me to a whole new life. The woman who had been there for me, every step of the way. The woman who, despite what my friends had said, still trusted me.

"We have to go there," I said. "We have to go there and we have to find out."

In that second, I would have done anything to stop that version of the future from happening. To make sure that everything Dust had worked for, keeping us safe, protecting us, instilling in us the importance of every single life, whether EA or not, remained, that it wasn't destroyed because I'd been a damn idiot.

"Go there? Melinda, if we go there…"

"It'll be dangerous and risky. I know. But if we can understand, better, how it got that way, then we have a stronger chance of changing it."

Marie Dust was staring hard at me, eyes narrowed. Finally, her eyes widened and she took a deep breath. "I would suggest you come back to the school, but it would be too risky. For you."

"And for everyone else there. I couldn't put them through that. Just…just make sure Mohinder and Claire are okay, yeah?"

"Of course."

"And give my love to the others. Please, please tell them I'm not a monster. I don't want them to think I'd do what they said I did."

"You sound like you're not coming back."

There was a catch in my throat.

"Mel, tell me you're coming back."

"Hiro, I'll meet you outside."

He nodded and headed out, no questions asked. Dust was staring at me, head bowed forward, eyes fixed on me, looking so very scared.

"I don't know," I said. "Honestly, I don't know. I…I need to come back, to now, but coming back to the school…"

"Oh, Melinda."

"I don't know if I'll survive. In all honesty, I'm surprised I survived this long. I need to stop…stop whatever's happening from happening. We might find an answer but there's more to it than that and I…I…"

She was around the table in seconds, wrapping her arms around me and hugging me tight, close. "I love you," she whispered in my ear. "I love you so much, Melinda. All I ever wanted was to see you happy. To see you going through this…"

I squeezed her, buried my head in her shoulder.

"You're eighteen. You should be thinking about University and boys and making a future for yourself."

A future for myself. That was exactly what I was trying to do. Trying to make sure there was a decent future to live for, to make sure my friends weren't hunted down, rounded up, killed, experimented on. To make sure there was a future for all of us.

"I want to see you again," she said, voice firm. "Remember that, Melinda. I want to see you again."

"I'll remember," I promised. We hugged once more, one last time, and I forced myself to smile before I headed out of the pub, glancing over my shoulder to see Marie Dust sink into her chair, head in her hands, shoulders shaking.

"Ready?" Hiro asked.

"Sure. Let's go."

He took my hand and the world swam.

**A/N: I really couldn't leave this story alone. And then I got a lovely review on Volume One, and it just sparked off the desire to continue with Volume Two. So, here we have it. I know Heroes ended a long time ago, but personally, it was always one of my favourite TV shows and I loved writing the first volume, so hopefully, there's still a few Heroes fans lurking out there who will enjoy this. And I strongly suggest reading Volume One first. Love to hear your thoughts, and hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it.**


	2. Chapter 2

TWO

_New York_

_Two Years Later_

Two days of non-stop running. Could have teleported, but without Hiro at my side I didn't want to risk it. We'd teleported to the outskirts of the city, and so far I hadn't had a chance to look around or find out anything. As soon as we'd arrived, we agreed to split up, figuring it would be easier to blend in if we weren't together. So far, I hadn't even made it into the city. I'd spent the time dodging the guards who patrolled the entrance to Manhattan. Hiro had teleported away soon as we'd worked out a time and place to meet.

Somehow, I had managed to get past the patrols and into the city. The goal was to find out as much as we could in a few days, establish what exactly was going on, who was still around. We were going to meet in three days, compare notes so to speak, and work out what to do from there.

I dulled myself down, given myself darker hair, slightly darker, tanned skin and hazel eyes. Once I was in the city, I took a good look around.

Austen was still alive.

Posters with his face hung everywhere. Electronic screens showed him smiling, looking down at the city. _Wishing You A Pleasant Day. Austen Administration_.

I stood, staring up at one of the screens, feeling my chest tighten as the screen dissolved and showed a series of images.

_Wanted. Terrorism. Mass Murder. _

I struggled to breathe, as their faces appeared, one by one. Peter, Eddie, Becky, Rin, Hiro, Mohinder, Matt, Sam, Molly. Molly, a teenager, her face worn and tired, older than her years.

The next face was unfamiliar, though there was a look in the eyes that I sort of recognised. The image faded, to be replaced by another one. Different features, hair, eyes, but the same haunted look.

_Melinda – highly dangerous. Can change appearance at will_.

The words scrolled across the bottom of the screen. I stumbled forward, my mouth dry. Shit.

Austen appeared again, to wish the people a pleasant day. I turned, to find myself facing three guys, all in black, all pointing guns at me.

"Papers," one barked. "Now."

I wriggled my fingers in the air. They pulled their triggers and I disappeared.

The world came into focus. I'd landed in one of the few places I knew in the city, the image of an exploding New York stretching out under my feet. The painted canvases were still there, as well as the equipment Mohinder had brought into the place. It was all covered in a thick layer of dust.

Someone moaned. I turned, spotting a small alcove with a bed in it, just behind the walkway. I crept up, listening carefully for any more signs of movement from whoever was sleeping. Scattered everywhere were empty bottles. Beer, vodka, whiskey. Most of them were clustered around the bed, and I stepped around and over them to avoid making any noise.

The figure turned, but remained sleeping, and I clapped my hands to my mouth to stop myself from gasping.

Peter looked awful. Bags under his eyes, thick stubble on his chin, not quite a beard, not yet. His hair had grown long and looked greasy. The t-shirt he wore was dirty, grimy, stained.

I stepped back, feeling the tears.

"Oh, Peter," I whispered, shaking my head and wondering if this was because of me. If my hesitation in killing Austen outright, with him right there in front of me, had caused this future.

They'd thought I'd been working for him, but surely, if I was now wanted, they knew that wasn't the case?

Peter stirred and I turned, ready to run or teleport. Something held me back though, and I found myself frozen in place. Not because of any power or a force outside myself, but simply because I couldn't just leave him like that.

"Who are you?"

When I turned back around, he was out of the bed, standing there with his hands out and flames burning bright in them.

I could change my appearance. I could make myself look completely and utterly different to the point where even those who had known me the longest couldn't recognise me. But I could never change my voice.

I raised my hands, offering up the universal symbol for surrender. Peter took a step forward, glaring at me. I watched as his foot connected with one of the bottles, making him stumble. The flames disappeared and he fell to his knees. He hung his head.

"If you're here to kill me, just get it over with."

I wanted to cry. What the hell had happened to him?

"Peter?"

His head snapped back, eyes fixed on me. There were tears there. He was shaking as we both stared at each other. Last time I had seen the future version of me, I knew he wouldn't have stopped until I died. Now, he just looked defeated.

"You shouldn't be here."

"I'm not from here," I explained, wishing there was some way I could ease his pain. "I'm…I'm from the past, Peter."

He crawled forward, reached up and grabbed the end of my shirt. "You have to stop this," he said. "Whatever Austen promised you, whatever he said…Melinda, it's bullshit. You have to stop working for him!"

I fell to my knees, took his hands in mine. "I was never working for him, Peter. Something happened to you and the others and he just…he brainwashed you into thinking that."

He reached for me, put his hand on my back and pulled me close, kissing the top of my head. "I'm sorry," he whimpered, and I forced myself to remain still, to put up with the smell of stale alcohol. "Oh, Mel, I'm so, so sorry."

"It's okay. I'm going to fix this. But I need your help."

"Anything."

"I need to know what happened. I need to know how it got to…this." I waved a hand towards the large windows along the loft. He nodded, wrapped his arms totally around me.

"All right," he said. "But I think you need to meet Molly, first."

"Molly? You know where she is?"

"I know where you all are, Mel," he said. When I pulled away, he was smiling, though it was strained and didn't quite reach his eyes. "I messed up, though. Holed myself away."

"You've been keeping tabs on them, haven't you?"

We got to our feet. Peter stumbled again, almost falling. He would have, but I managed to grab him around the waist and keep him upright. I half-carried him down the stairs, stepping back as he fell onto a nearby chair. He gestured at a bookcase. One of the books came flying towards him, and he grabbed it out of the air before holding it out to me.

Black, leather bound journal. I took it from him, opened it up to find that each page had a name written at the top. Followed by dates and locations, some crossed out, the most recent at the bottom. I came to my page. The latest note read _underground_. _Hiding. Safe_.

"Underground?"

He nodded. "You've protected yourself too well for me to pinpoint your exact location. You've stopped me, or anyone, seeing most of your people, too."

"My people?"

He grinned. "You're not alone, Mel. After…after Austen came into power, things went crazy. He started administrating the serum to those who could pay, or those just on his side. A few of us tried to fight him. Didn't work. But we banded together, formed a group, got labelled as terrorists."

"Yeah. I saw that on the screen."

"There's a lot of us out there. But we were stupid. We fought among each other and picked fights with those who…who weren't born like us."

"Are there those who took the serum who don't work for Austen?"

"Of course there are, Mel." He reached forward, reached towards me. "Thanks to Mohinder and Dr Marie Dust."

I inhaled a sharp breath. "Dr Dust?"

He nodded, slowly. "I think it's best if I just show you. Though your people might have orders to try to kill me on sight."

"I'd never order them to do that."

"You don't know what I've done."

I crouched down in front of him, reached up, and put my hand against his cheek. "Peter, I would never issue an order to kill you. Never. Whatever happened…I know it's not you. It wasn't you. And if I know that, future me sure as hell knows that, too. What about Rin and the others?"

"Hiding, but safe. There's two fractions of what Austen is calling terrorists. Us and you."

I nodded, slowly, taking it all in. "You said we need to find Molly?"

He lifted his hand and this time, a map book flew into it. He winked at me, before closing his eyes, hand hovering over the book. Moments later the book opened and he flicked through the pages, until his finger landed on a spot. Peter reached out, took my shoulder, and we were gone, leaving only the map book and empty bottles of alcohol in the loft.

X X X

One room, a camp-bed against the wall, a camping stove in the middle of the floor and a bathroom coming off. The walls and floor were thick with dust, littered with empty cans. Peter fell back against the wall, breathing heavily with his arm across his chest.

"Pete? You all right?"

"Be fine in a minute," he muttered.

"His powers are weak."

I turned to the voice, staring at the doorway to the bathroom. Molly stood there, wearing clothes way too big for her. Her face was scarred, her eyes darker than I remembered. Her hair hung wet around her face, and I felt the urge to run to her, hug her and tell her everything would be all right.

"I try to keep an eye on him, but everything he's done to his body is fucking it up."

I winced, hearing that word come from her mouth. Not the sweet innocent kid I knew.

"What do you mean, done to his body?" I glanced at Peter. He'd sunk to the floor, head tilted back as he stared at me.

"Go on, Molly. Enlighten her."

"He can't die," she replied. "And most of the damage repairs itself. But when you do drugs and drink a shit ton of booze, that damage takes a little longer. His healing powers work harder to repair it and his other powers take a hit because of that, because one power is constantly working."

"How do you know all this?"

She grinned at me but like Peter's, it wasn't a real grin. It was dark and haunted. "How do you think? Mohinder and Dust."

"You don't seem surprised to see me here."

"You told me you were coming," she said. "It's in your past, after all."

I frowned at Molly, thinking over the implications of what she had said. I could barely even believe how much she had grown in two years. "If it's in my past, if I already tried, then that must mean…" I paused. It was too damn horrible to even think about. "I fail. I failed. This won't solve anything."

"Don't ask about the mechanics of time travel," Peter said. "It'll just give you a killer headache."

"Different time streams, I guess," Molly muttered. "Fingers crossed you do something different to the present Melinda, and do end up with things changing."

"Yeah, fingers crossed."

I turned to Peter. He was on his feet now, but still leaning against the wall. "Take us to her, Molly."

"Sure."

I glanced at Peter. "Sure you should come? Maybe you should head back to the loft."

He shook his head. "Nah. About damn time I did something useful." He ran a hand through his hair, pulling it back from his face. It made him look younger, somehow, and I glimpsed the Peter I had fallen in love with. "Kind of missed saving the world, if I'm honest."

Molly scowled at him. "Well, you could have helped us save it. If you and the others weren't such dickheads."

"They were brainwashed, Molly. I don't think they could help it."

She fixed her hardened gaze on me. "I fought it."

"With Matt's help," Peter snapped.

"He would have helped you, too."

"That guy saved your life more than once. You have a bond much deeper than any of us have with him, and we all thought he was helping Mel. Well, knew he was." He glanced at me. "Technically, none of us ever did break out of it. We just…"

"You thought he screwed me over," I finished, remembering what he'd said when I'd first turned up. "I'll have to remember that. Maybe Matt can help you before you start thinking he's working on the bad side."

"Won't work," he muttered. "Have to be willing."

"This is all pointless," Molly said. She moved towards the bed, reached under it and took out a crudely drawn map. She thrust it at Peter. "Here. You need to take us here."

"More teleporting?" I sighed, not looking forward to yet another bout of it. Molly flashed me a huge smile.

"You're a clever one. You can only get in by teleporting."

"What's the map for then?"

"Just helps pinpoint the location. Hiro has a copy, too."

"Present or…future…past…" I paused. My present was their past but their present was my future and if I dwelled on it too much, I was sure I was going to get a headache.

"Hiro's here, too?" Peter looked up. I nodded. "Let's hope he stays out of sight. Come on." Peter reached out, took my hand and Molly's.

Great. Just freaking great. Why couldn't I have thought of some different way of getting in without teleportation?

X X X 

"We're not in Kansas anymore, are we?" I said, as my vision cleared and I looked around. We were, in the strictest sense of the word, underground. Molly blinked at me, shaking her head before she strode forward.

The place was, basically, a huge cavern. Tables had been set up around the edges, beds just behind them. And the people. There had to be well over twenty people in there, sitting around, eating, playing cards, chatting. I tried to spot anyone I knew

Molly disappeared into a tunnel, coming off the main cavern. Peter and I hung back. A few people had noticed us now. Some stared at us with fear, others with anger. One guy got up, rolled his shoulders back, and started to walk towards us.

"Petrelli," he growled, eyes dimming until they turned black. "You've got a lot to answer for, you little shit." He raised his hands. My chest tightened. I wanted to move, wanted to push him out of the way or do something, but every inch of my body was frozen as the guy came closer.

And Peter…

Peter just stood there, hands in his pockets, looking resigned as he stared at the guy.

"Don't you dare!" The voice echoed around the room, bouncing off the walls, strong and sure, powerful. I turned to see a woman stalking towards us from the cave, brown hair tied back, eyes sharp and dangerous. She flicked her hand, and the guy was pushed back, his hands dropping.

She looked so damn powerful, angry, too, and I felt stunned. I could feel it, feel her power licking along my skin, raising the hairs on my arms, my neck. And I realised I was very, very scared of her.

She stopped just in front of Peter, raised her hand and slapped him, hard. There were tears pooling in her eyes as his head turned, a red mark spreading across his skin.

"Hey, Mel," he said, barely moving.

I gaped at her. At me. Finally, she turned her blazing blue eyes to me and smiled.

"Welcome home, Mel."


	3. Chapter 3

THREE

"You look different."

She gave me the kind of condescending, 'aw bless' smile adults bestowed on little kids when they said something stupid. Peter had moved behind me, as if I was some sort of shield between him and future me.

"I stopped using my abilities to look different," she said. "No point. Not down here." Her eyes flickered to Peter, and even in those oddly familiar but not eyes I spotted hurt, anger, pain. He'd done something, something beyond just not believing in me. "You look terrible, Petrelli."

Peter just shrugged, turning his head away and staring at the floor.

"You look…hard," I said, wondering how much hell she had gone through. What the hell could make me change that much?

"I had to be hard," she snapped, before taking a deep breath. "Let's sit down."

I looked over her shoulder. She was the same height as me, but something about her made her seem taller. In the entrance to the tunnel, I spotted Mohinder and Matt, standing with Molly between them. Each man had a hand on her shoulder, but each man, like me, looked vastly different. But their eyes were lighter than future me, their eyes held something hers didn't.

Hope.

Peter stayed behind me, every eye in the place on him, as we walked over to one of the tables. Future me sat with her back to the wall, we sat opposite. Peter was trembling, and future me cast her eyes over him, before shaking her head.

"Alcohol withdrawal," she muttered. "You really are messed up, aren't you?"

Under the table, he took my hand. I glanced at him, feeling my heart sink.

"How are the others?" Future me asked. "Rin, Becky…"

"Fine," he muttered, before running a hand through his hair. "Safe. At the moment." He lifted his head and fixed his gaze on her. "Rin…you wouldn't recognise her."

"I know." She turned to me. "You've got a lot of work to do, kiddo."

"Kiddo? I'm only two years younger than you."

"And with a long, hard road ahead. Trust me, I walked it."

"So what do I do?" I asked. "To stop…" I waved my hand, wishing I could find someone to sum up this nightmare, dystopian world. "This? What do I do?"

Her eyes flickered to Peter. "Stop thinking you're so damn alone." Her gaze switched to me. "Realise that there are, and always will be, people who trust you and will help you."

"Like who?"

"Like me."

I turned. Like future me, Claire looked…well, darker, harder. Peter scrambled out of his chair, threw his arms around her. She shoved him away and I caught, in his face, the look of total hurt.

"Don't," she snapped. "Don't, Peter. It's your fault he's dead."

"Claire, I…please…"

Claire walked around the table, sat down beside future me. Crossing her arms, she leaned forward, staring into my face. "Don't go thinking I can't fight, all right? You already made that mistake."

"Of course you can't fight!" Peter said. "Jesus, Claire, don't go telling her to rope you into all this."

"Shut up, Petrelli. Let her speak." Those eyes were starting to freak me out. It was strange, seeing my natural eyes with a look in them so different to anything that had ever looked me back in the mirror. Even when I changed the colour or shape or anything, my eyes were still mine. I could still recognise me. But the woman sitting across was a complete and utter stranger.

"You think I just sat on my ass at that school?" Claire said. "I worked, and I worked hard. I learnt how to fight and I learnt how to defend myself. I had to, after what Sylar did to me."

"I should have been there," Peter muttered. Claire waved a hand, dismissing him completely.

"Boo freaking hoo, Petrelli. You think you would have got over the whole 'I need to save everyone' thing by now."

"Wait, you knew I was coming," I said, turning back to future me. "You came here too, didn't you? So why didn't you do what you guys are telling me?"

"Claire wasn't here then," future me said. "Things were…different, in smaller ways. I didn't meet up with him." She gestured her hand towards Peter. "Where did you find him, anyway?"

"The loft."

She laughed. "Of course. Why did you decide to go there?"

"Me and Hiro split up. I headed into the city, saw the…the screens."

She seemed to think it over. "The smallest of changes, huh? What made you and Hiro decide to split up?"

I shrugged. "Seemed like the best idea."

"He suggest it?"

"Yeah."

She drummed her fingers on the table. "He didn't, when I was with him. Odd that, huh? He didn't, we ran and he got captured."

"But you escaped?"

"Yes. I escaped, I found Molly and I came here."

"Hiro could have been caught," I said. "He could have still been captured."

"We'll get him out."

I nodded, feeling determination filling me up, inch by inch, like water dripping into a cup. "So you did things differently? Than the…version of us you saw?"

Future me nodded, slowly, a strange smile pulling her lips up. Not a happy smile, but a look that said she knew exactly what I was thinking.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but you did things differently once you left here. I've done things differently since arriving here, but you still saw a future version of us…she saw a future version of us and did things differently too, didn't she?"

Again, she nodded, staring at me with wide eyed pity.

"Oh, God." My hands came to my face, cradling my head. "Oh, God," I repeated, then started saying it over and over again.

"What?" Claire asked. "What's wrong?"

"It's a cycle," future me explained. "We always make this trip. We always arrive, meet ourselves, do what's needed to make it different. Alter things."

"But we always end up here," I said, squeezing my eyes shut to stop the tears. "Trying to tell myself how to change things, but it always ends up the same."

Too fast for me to do anything to stop her, she reached out, grabbed my wrist and brought my hand down onto the table. "It doesn't," she said. "Don't you get it, Melinda? Everything we do changes this future in some way. After a few months, I remembered who was missing from this place and I tracked her down. You brought Peter here. Things are changing."

"Last time you were here, what had changed?"

"Not a lot." Her eyes flickered to Peter, before returning to me. "There had been more deaths. Having Claire on side stopped some of them. But by the time I had tracked her down it was too late."

"So I go back, get her earlier?"

She nodded eagerly. "Exactly. I tried to find Austen, but I couldn't. I wasted too much time convinced I had to do it on my own. But between us, we've changed things. I hadn't changed anything last time. You brought Peter here."

Claire was staring at me, smiling. "Change enough and it might all end up different."

"Do you know how I can get my friends back?"

Future me shook her head. "Sorry. I know a telepath can break the brainwashing, whatever they did to them. Matt got Molly out of it. But the victim has to really, really trust the person doing it. They have to believe in them completely."

I thought over what she'd said. Peter trusted Matt, surely? The others trusted Dr Dust. "Why didn't Matt and Dust try to break them out of it?"

Future me looked up, staring over towards the entrance of the tunnel.

"We found out Matt was working with you," Peter explained, as future me waved at the group huddled at the end of the room. "Wasn't going to trust him after that."

I turned, to see Mohinder, Matt and Molly walking towards us. Behind them, slower, using a walking stick, was Dr Dust.

I couldn't do anything but blink at her as she arrived at the table, lowering herself slowly into the chair beside Claire. The others gathered at the head, Molly still in the middle.

"She's wondering why you couldn't just reach into their minds and pluck out all the crap they were fed."

Dr Dust fixed her gaze on me. She looked older, older than she should have, flecks of white streaking through her hair, her face lined.

"They thought I was helping you." Her speech was slow, a pause between each word. "They didn't trust me, Mel."

This time, I was the one who reached out. I took her hand, squeezing it, surprised at how small and frail it felt. "I won't let it happen," I said. "Not again."

Tears began to roll down her face. She lifted our hands, put the back of mine against her cheek. "Whatever happens, Melinda, I'm here for you."

"We all are," Claire said.

"You're not alone." This, from future me. "I forgot that. I forgot how damn powerful we were as a team." She turned to Peter and this time, the smile remained on her face. "We got to the top of that tower after all, didn't we?"

"Peter?"

"Yeah?"

He wasn't looking at any of us, just staring at the table as if he wanted to disappear into it. I said his name again, made him look at me. "What do you actually remember about that night? What happened after I left you guys?"

He shrugged, and I saw a flash of something in his eyes. "We got split up in the confusion. We all got out, but we weren't sure where the others were."

"Who were you with?"

"Becky and Rin. The boys were helping Tracey and Nikki."

I glanced to future me. It was there, in her eyes, the same thing I'd thought. "What happened to you and the girls?" I asked.

"Barbara turned up. She looked awful, all bruised and bloody and…and I think someone was with her. But then….they weren't." He shrugged. "We thought we must have imagined it."

It had been Barbara, Rin and Becky who had confronted me when I woke. Peter and the girls I'd seen in the future. I voiced my thoughts to future me, before adding, "Did you ever see the guys?"

"Briefly. Didn't get the chance to speak to them, though."

I drummed my fingers on the table, wondering if I'd get the chance to get Sam and Eddie on their own.

Future me looked up sharply, staring over my shoulder. I turned to see Hiro standing in the middle of the room, glasses gone, a sword strapped across his back, a scar running from under his eye down to his chin.

"Hiro!" future me cried. He looked to us, then strode across the room, coming to a stop just behind me.

"Austen's men," he said, with barely a trace of the accent. "They're heading for the city." His eyes flickered down to me. "Following rumours that you're in New York."

She was on her feet in seconds, her hand landing on Dust's shoulder and squeezing gently. Suddenly, everyone around us was moving, grabbing weapons, checking guns, flexing hands and testing their abilities.

"Make sure she survives," she said, gesturing at me. Hiro nodded, turning to me.

Around us, people were either moving back, giving the others more room, or disappearing, usually with someone else. Future me moved into the middle of the room, barking out orders. Mohinder turned to Molly, putting his hands on her shoulders and crouching down so they were eyelevel.

"Stay in here, Molly."

"I know. Come back, all right?"

"I will." He kissed the top of her head. Him and Matt moved to Hiro, took his hands, and they were gone.

It didn't take long for there to only be a handful of people left. Mostly kids, around Molly's age. A few who looked injured, like Dr Dust, and finally, me and Peter.

Peter was staring at the spot where future me had been. He looked like he was ready to move, but something was keeping him frozen in place.

Hiro reappeared.

"Good luck," Dr Dust said. I turned back to her, to see Molly standing over her shoulder, arms wrapped around herself, looking like she was struggling not to cry.

Hiro gripped my shoulder, then Peter's.

"Time to prove your worth, Petrelli."

We disappeared.


	4. Chapter 4

FOUR

Cries and shouts filled the air. We'd landed right in the middle of a battlefield, and I only caught glimpses of people as they flowed forward, moved past us, some going too fast for my eyes to see, others scrambling up the sides of skyscrapers. Guns and steel flashed around us, and soon the sound of bullets tore through the air. Peter was trembling, shaking. Hiro disappeared.

Peter inched closer to me, snapping his head around, looking like he was trying to decide what to do.

I took his hand.

"Peter?"

"Yeah?"

I kissed him, my free hand grabbing onto the back of his head. I was kissing him not just because I wanted to, but because in that moment it felt like the right thing to do. Like we both needed it. We broke away and he smiled, leaning forward so his forehead was touching mine.

And I saw the old Peter. He looked younger, and his eyes blazed to life with the good old Petrelli determination.

"We're unstoppable," I said. "Together, Pete, we can do anything. Can't we?"

"Yeah. I…you're the only person here who doesn't hate me, Mel. And I hate the fact that you have to go back alone."

"I don't know how I can ever hate you."

He put his palm flat against my face. "You saw the way she looked at me. You'll end hating me, too."

"Maybe not. She never found you in this future, did she?"

Peter kissed my forehead. We stepped away from each other and turned to face the enemy. They'd built a barricade, military style. Some men were leaning over it, shooting into the crowd. We were far enough back that the bullets didn't reach us.

Claire appeared on the other side of Peter. In each hand she held a gun. She looked at us.

"You told me once you got called demon by a bunch of goons," she said, fixing her gaze on me. The smile she gave me was big and wild, creepy and terrifying. "I think it's time we lived up to that, don't you?"

I remembered the goons, in the tower, shooting into us. The fear on their faces when they realised bullets would not take us down.

"Let's do it," I said. The three of us charged forward.

We moved past the others, and I realised it wasn't just the people from the cavern surrounding us. I tilted my head back, spotting a few people in the sky, including Sam.

I pointed it out to Peter as we moved forward. Claire spotted and nodded.

"They have their base in the city. We came to a truce a few weeks back, agreed that if Austen sent his men in, we'd come and help."

We broke out of the main crowd. They didn't need to surge forward, not with the powers and guns. But behind the barricade, I saw Hiro, flashing in and out of existence, swinging his sword.

Peter, Claire and I kept running across the empty space, fire flaring up in my hands and in Peter's. Claire aimed her guns and began firing. Bullets tore through the air, got all three of us. But Claire's ability meant all three of us kept going. They stared at us with slack jaws and pale faces, and as I looked, I realised most of them were only a few years older than me.

"I thought Austen was using EAs?" I yelled, above the sound of gunshots.

"Hasn't sent them," Claire called back. "Probably thought there'd only be a few EAs here!" She winked at me, before sprinting ahead. I watched as she fired shot after shot, soldiers tumbling back, guns falling from their hands.

Something wasn't right.

They weren't proper soldiers. They were kids in uniform, scared and terrified, tears streaming down their faces as they fired. Ignoring the bullet that hit my shoulder, I turned and stared back at our side.

They were relentless. A mob of angry faces, shooting fire and ice and water, channelling their abilities, using our advantage to take down people so much weaker.

People scared of us.

I grabbed Peter, yanked him back.

"What's wrong?" he asked, flicking bullets away as they came towards us.

"What did we do?" I asked. "What the hell did we do when Austen came into power?"

"We fought, Mel," he said, voice low, soft. "We fought for our lives. They sent people to catch us. Any EA without the proper papers was reported to the authorities."

"How many innocent people died, Peter?"

He turned away from me, staring at the floor.

"How many?"

The sounds of fighting were beginning to die down. Peter still didn't answer.

"No wonder they call us terrorists!"

I turned away from him, feeling sick. I stared at the barricade. The soldiers were either dead or running, moving fast as they could away from the fight. Claire jogged back to us; Hiro appeared along with future me. Hiro and Peter were the only ones not smiling.

"We did it!" Claire cheered. Cries of triumph soon rose up among the crowd, and I spotted Sam flying down, right into the middle of it. Was he going to celebrate with Becky? Were all of them in there, Rin and Eddie, too?

Were they really that close?

"We did it, Mel," future me said, clasping a hand on my shoulder and squeezing. "Why don't you look happier?"

How many of those people had died because of me?

"Don't you think it was a little too easy?" I turned to her. She was me and I was her, sure, but we couldn't have been more different. Whatever she had seen, whatever she had gone through, it had separated us by more than just two years. "Like the tower. Don't you think we got through too easily?"

"You hear that?" Peter said. He wasn't looking at any of us, but he had his head angled like he was listening to something.

And I heard it, too.

A deep rumbling noise.

Sparks flew up into the air, from the other side of the barricade and the vehicles the army had left behind.

"Oh, shit," future me muttered, before turning back to the crowd. "They've sent EAs in!" she cried. "Get ready for…"

We were away from the crowd, closer to the barricade, so when the explosion hit, we were the ones to take the blunt of it.

I leaped towards Peter, following instinct and nothing else, grabbing onto him and holding him down as Claire went flying through the air, smacking into the closest of our fighters. Didn't see what happened to Hiro or future me, but super-strength on my part kept me and Peter still.

When I dared look, smoke filled my vision. Peter's arms were around me, muttering my name, over and over again.

"I'm fine," I said. "Peter, I'm fine."

Rumble was falling all around us. I focused on trying to spot the barricade, pushing Peter down when I spotted one of the vehicles flying through the air, over our heads. Screams rose up in the air, the shouts of the scared, injured and dying.

We crouched on the ground, mirroring each other's positions. Smoke and ash filled the air, made it impossible to see anything. Except each other.

"There." Peter pointed upward, and I saw someone flying above us, gripping onto the shoulders of someone else who was shooting fireballs into the crowd behind.

"Come on!"

We pushed ourselves off the ground, collided with the figures at the same time. The flyer lost his grip, tumbled in the air and righted himself before flying back behind the barricade. The other guy crashed to the floor.

"We need to get over there," Peter called, and I spotted a few figures scrambling over the vehicles. I nodded and we shot forward.

They were behind the vans and cars. The ones that could use abilities from a distance hankering down, the others moving forward to go over the barricade. Flyers were picking up different people, and it was clear we were outnumbered.

Peter stopped in mid-air, staring at a figure coming out of the smoke. Two figures. Both of them I recognised, both carrying swords.

"Nathan!" His voice was a scream, the shock on his face all too clear. I grabbed Peter, yanked him down, avoiding the other figure.

"You can't escape me again, bitch."

Sylar.

"Nathan…he's dead…" Peter said, eyes locked on his brother.

Sylar turned, twisting his body to face us. He lifted his hand, flicked it, and suddenly we were flying away from each other. Another flick of his hand and I was turned, upside-down and frozen, no way to put myself right. Something felt like it was gripping my throat, squeezing, hard.

"Peter!" I choked the word out, watching as Nathan flew towards him and raised the sword. Sylar dropped his, came towards me.

"Do you know how you kill someone immortal?"

"Help!" I screeched, though I knew the sound would be drowned out by the fighting down below. So I sent it out telepathically instead, reaching out to every single mind I could find.

_Sylar. Help._

I touched on one mind very different from the others, one that stood out, and knew Hiro, my present day Hiro, was there.

I screamed Peter's name again, screamed it over and over again until I was only mouthing the word. He wasn't moving. He wasn't doing anything. Just floating there and staring at Nathan. They were inches apart, Nathan screaming something at him I couldn't hear.

I watched, unable to do anything, Sylar's laughter ringing in my ears as Nathan raised the sword.

"Chop off their head," Sylar said.

The sword swung through the air. Peter's head came clean off. Flew towards one of the nearest buildings before gravity took hold and it went down.

"And burn them." Another flick of Sylar's hand and Peter's body, now falling, was covered in flames.

Someone grabbed me from behind. Sylar screamed out, and everything dissolved.


	5. Chapter 5

FIVE

Frozen in the air, not far above a grassy field. I felt disorientated, weak, and as I crashed down and hit the field I felt like I was going to be sick. I didn't even move, didn't look at the person who had saved me. Just laid there, brought my knees to my chest and cried.

Hiro said nothing. He just sat down, cross-legged, in my eyesight, and waited.

It wasn't a normal sound that came from me. I had no word to put to it, no way to identify the way my body was reacting to it. What I felt went way beyond sadness and grief.

And what about my future self? Would she mourn for him? Would any of them? Or did they all hate him so much, that broken, damaged man, that they would simply walk away from his death?

If they even survived.

I sat up, so quick that the world around me spun. My eyes rolled into the back of my head and images flickered through my mind. I knew it was Molly's ability, knew the ability was trying to find someone. Everything went black, too dark to see anything, and I didn't have time to work it out before it changed to show a rundown shack in the middle of nowhere.

"Mel!" Hiro cried.

I felt his fingers brush against mine, before my stomach seemed to drop and I was spinning through nothing.

Panting, wrenching, I opened my eyes to find a dirty wooden floor beneath me. The shack. There was someone outside. I got to my feet, stumbled forward and grabbed onto the sofa, a horrible, faded thing with questionable stains over it. Taking one deep breath after another, I moved forward, listening. One person. There was only one person here.

It made me feel a little better.

I stepped into a grimy kitchen, glanced through the window, and spotted Peter.

Present day Peter, standing facing a forest, throwing fireballs at makeshift targets and glass bottles. His back was to me, and I could see his hair had grown out, just a little, since I had last seen the present day version of him.

I reached for the door before realising how much of a bad idea that could be.

I could feel the tears, still in my eyes, and as I watched him, I kept replaying his death in my head.

We were immortal, in a way. But all it took was swinging a sword and a little bit of fire and we were, well, toast.

How had Sylar got the fire ability anyway?

And why had Nathan swung the sword?

There was too much I didn't know. My trip into the future was supposed to have helped me decide what I needed to do next, and though I knew bits and pieces, there were still too many variables.

Peter whirled around, suddenly, like he had sensed me standing there. My breath caught in my throat. For a brief second, relief filled his face. It disappeared just as fast, and I watched as he raised his hands and shot fire into the house.

The window shattered. I barely had time to register the huge amount of cuts appearing over my body as the glass flew past me. I stumbled back, lifted my head and spotted Peter flying towards me.

I went down, pushed off the ground with my legs and rolled back, getting to my feet and throwing up a shield of ice.

"Why the hell are you here?" he cried. There was so much rage, so much hate in his eyes. I focused on keeping the ice up, as he cupped his hands together. More fire.

Shit.

"You coming to kidnap us now?"

"I haven't kidnapped anyone!"

"Then where's Claire?" he screamed, throwing the fire at me. The ice melted, water flowing down over me and over the floor. I ran for the door, leapt on the sofa and jumped to the ceiling, clinging onto it with the power I had gained from Carl. "Where's Mohinder?" He stood in the doorway to the kitchen and pushed another fireball my way. It hit the upper part of my chest. Heat flared through me and my concentration wavered. I fell, smacking into the floor.

Did he remember that I had Claire's power? Or was he hoping he'd actually kill me?

"They're safe, Peter! You know that! At the school!"

"You were the one who told us that!"

I tried to get to my feet. Peter slammed his fist onto the floor. Ice spread out across it and just as I regained my footing, I slipped.

"They've brainwashed you. I'm not working for anyone, Pete. I'm not!"

He lifted his head, glaring at me with dark, hate filled eyes. Maybe Angela had been right. Maybe it would have been better if I'd never met him in the first place.

Car tires, crunching on gravel. Whistling.

"Peter?"

I had a few seconds to wonder if Matt would risk the others hating him, too, before he stepped through the door. For just a moment he stood there, eyes taking in the sight of Peter crouched on the floor, forming another fireball, while I lay sprawled, trying to work out what I was supposed to do.

I couldn't even bring myself to hurt him.

"Peter, stop it!" Matt barked, before throwing himself towards the other man. They collided, spinning across the ice.

I used the sofa to pull myself to my feet, leaning over it as I stared at the pair, Matt with his hands pinning Peter's wrists down.

"You're working for them, too?" Peter growled. I didn't think Matt saw the fire in Peter's hands, and I had mere moments before he sent them into the bigger guy. And Matt was not as resilient as me. If Peter managed to burn him…

I used the sofa to propel myself towards them. As I went, I shot jets of water at Peter's hand, dousing the fire. Landed on Matt's back, my head on his shoulder as I wrapped my arms around him.

"I love you, Peter," I said, before focusing in on Hiro. "Let go of him, Matt."

He did what I said, slid back on the ice, still with me wrapped around him. We teleported, back to the field, back to Hiro. I rolled off Matt, landed on my back and stared up at the sky, trying to catch my breath.

"Hiro, take him to Molly," I said, getting the words out as fast as I could. "Someone's either brainwashed her, or is going to."

"What?" Matt glanced from Hiro to me. "If she's brainwashed…"

"We can fix it," I muttered, wishing I could have just five minutes where I didn't have to fight for my life. "She trusts you, Matt. You can get in her head and…and…" What was it he could do? I closed my eyes, took a deep breath. "You're a telepath. If someone who's brainwashed trusts you enough, they'll let you into their head to put their mind back to normal. Or something. I don't know." I clapped my hands over my face. "Just go to her and bring her here. Please."

There was a slight popping noise. When I looked, they were gone.

Good.

We needed Molly, and we needed her safe, where no one could get to her.

Every inch of me was aching. Claire's ability was great for healing over wounds and for allowing me to run into a bullet without it doing any serious harm, but it did nothing against sheer exhaustion.

I closed my eyes and allowed myself to sleep.

Of course, with it being me, I didn't just sleep. Things just weren't that easy. I dreamt, sort of, flashes of the battle in New York, Peter's face, over and over again, head getting chopped off, then the way he looked in the shack. Back and forth, back and forth, Peter pleading with me, telling me Austen was going to screw me over.

And then darkness. Nothing but empty space all around me. And I knew what that meant.

"You bastard!" I screamed into the dark. "You absolute bastard! Can't I have five minutes without you ruining my life?"

The laughter filled the space, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere. I got to my feet, knowing there was no use in trying to see anything. In the real world, I had been able to get rid of the darkness by lighting up the place. But this wasn't the real world. There, he could only create illusions. This place was his real domain, where he could do whatever the hell he damn pleased.

The darkness faded, but only the area just ahead of me, forming a sort of tunnel. He sat at the end, in a large, blood red throne, a crown sitting on top of his head.

"Hello, Melinda."

"You should have scars."

"Ah, but you're not seeing me, are you? Just a projection of myself."

I took a step forward, keeping my eyes locked on him. "Why are you doing this?"

"Just wanted to remind you I'm still alive."

"No chance you're going to tell me the next step of your master plan, is there?"

"Of course not, silly girl. It's fun watching you frail around. How was your trip to the future? You were cut off from me for a few weeks." He shook his finger, like I was a naughty child.

"Thanks for letting me know you're keeping tabs on me," I said, wondering how many people he actually had working for him. "And for letting me know how long I was gone. So, how many EAs you actually got surrounding you, Austen? I know you've got at least three."

He frowned at me. "What are you on about, you stupid girl? You're rambling."

"Well, let's see." I lifted my hand, raised three fingers. "Barbara, obviously. She was your associate you were on about, wasn't she? The one outside the tower. And then there's the guy who can brainwash people, which makes two. And, last, someone who can keep tabs on people. So, at least three." I thought it over as I took a step towards him. "I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark here. You've got a whole gang of goons, non-EAs, right? Assuming you didn't put them all in the tower. I don't think you're that stupid. And you must have a few EAs around you, further protection. Not to mention, again, you had a number of them in the tower and not all of them would have been there."

He may have been cold, calculating, but the look that flickered across his face as I moved forward was enough to tell me I was right.

"You know pretty much every ability I have," I said, glad to see the confidence in him waver as I got just that little bit closer. "So you must have someone around you to block out Molly's ability, right? The ability to find people."

He shrank. It was only as I got closer that I realised he was bigger than normal, broader and taller, and I reminded myself that the version of Austen I was seeing was just a projection. But as I got closer, the figure got smaller, until he was normal size, gripping the arms of the throne.

I flexed my fingers, grinned, and floated off the ground.

"Don't underestimate me again, Austen," I growled, moving forward faster, until I was hovering right in front of him. He stared up at me. "I will find you, do you understand that? I will find you and this time I will make damn sure you are dead."

I brought my hands down onto the arms of the throne, bringing my face as close to his as possible, watched the fear in his eyes and enjoyed it, enjoyed seeing him squirm.

Until it disappeared to be replaced by a cocky as hell smile.

"You little brat," he said. "You're the one underestimating me, bitch." He brought his hands up, slammed them into my chest and I flew backwards.

Woke up, not quite sure where I was at first. The field around me slowly faded into view. I struggled to get my bearings, but once the sensation of grass hit me, wet with dew, I could focus better.

I brushed my hands along my jeans, glanced up at the sky. Almost sunset. Sunlight was dimming, and the moon would soon rise. I took slow, deep breaths, replaying the dream and trying to work out what Austen had wanted me to know and what he hadn't.

_You're the one underestimating me._

Was I, though? I knew he was powerful, and yeah, I didn't know the full extent of that power so I was happy to verge on the side of extremely. Well, not happy, but it was better to overestimate than underestimate.

The pop sound that indicated teleportation made me jump.

"You!"

The screech made me turn around and I found myself staring at Molly, young Molly, not the hardened kid I'd seen in the future. She was struggling against Matt's arms, hands out like she wanted to scratch my eyeballs out.

She broke away from him, maybe because he didn't want to hurt her too much, and I scrambled to my feet. Yeah, I knew the feeling. Didn't want to hurt her, either.

"Molly, no!"

Hiro appeared at her side, reached out an d grabbed her around her waist. "Matt, I can't…"

Matt jogged forward, Hiro let her go and Matt grabbed her again, lifting her off the ground.

"Why are you helping her?" Molly yelled, tears streaming down her face as she beat her fists against Matt's arm. "Matt, why are you helping her?"

I had no idea what to say. I could have told her a million times that she'd been fed lies, but I wasn't the one who needed to do that. I glanced at Matt. He took a deep breath, bent so his mouth was close to her ear, and spoke.

I wouldn't have heard him, if I didn't have a hearing ability. I focused, listened as he spoke. I had a few abilities like that, stuff I didn't use much but I was finding, more and more, came in really handy.

"Molly, you trust me, don't you?"

"Yes. But…but…"

"Someone nasty got into your head," Matt said. "They got to Peter and the others, too. To Mel's friends. They didn't get to me and Hiro."

"She's working for the bad guy."

"She's not, Molly."

"She…"

"Molly. I need to go into your head. Will you let me?"

He lowered her to the ground. Molly didn't move, just nodded, slowly. Matt put his hands on her shoulders, turned her to face him. Hiro moved to stand by me, crossing his arms as Molly swayed and fell, caught easily by Matt. He sat down, her in his arms, eyes locked on her face.

"Are you all right?"

I nodded. "Sure, why wouldn't I be? Where'd you end up anyway? In the future, I mean."

"With your friends. The fire one found me."

"Eddie?"

"Yes."

"And they were…okay, with you being there?"

"Not at first. Rin was not happy with it. But she said something very interesting to me."

"Yeah? What's that?"

He turned to face me. "That she would never forgive you, but that things had taken such a bad turn that she knew you had to work together." Hiro reached out, clasped my shoulder. "I am sorry. About Peter."

"Which one? The present day one hates me, and the future one…"

"I am sorry you had to see him die, Melinda. What did you do, while we were there?"

So I told him, and listened as he told me what the others had told him. It was pretty much the same stuff I had already learnt. Any EAs that didn't work for Austen had been labelled as terrorists. Those EAs had split into two groups. He did add that for a while, they had fought each other instead of focusing on Austen. EAs had died, innocent people had died. And from what both of us had gathered, Austen was winning. He was wiping us out, creating a world where the only EAs left were ones working for him.

Creating a world where he was, ultimately, in power.

My thoughts flashed to home, and I found myself wishing I'd asked Dust what had been going on back at the school. Were the kids there okay? What about the EAs in the rest of the UK, the rest of the world?

I sat back down, picking at a blade of grass. Hiro followed me, crossing his legs as we waited for Matt to finish.

"What next, Melinda?"

"Get her somewhere safe," I said, wondering, not for the first time, why they always seemed to ask me. "Get her somewhere she can be looked after. I don't want her messed up in all this."

I glanced over towards Matt. Molly was across his lap, one of his hands behind her head, his eyes still locked on her face. But the look in them was distant, not quite here.

"And then?"

"Angela Petrelli," I muttered, knowing I needed to see her, to speak to her, at some point. Especially as she was the strongest link to Nathan and Peter. Peter had thought Nathan was dead. Faked, staged, whatever had happened, Nathan had switched sides. Or joined one. The problem was, I knew nothing about him outside of what Peter had told me. "And, at some point, we need to get Claire back."

"The cheerleader?"

"Yeah."

We fell silent as night took over and the world became dark. We sat and we waited. Waited for Matt to finish with Molly, waited for something, for once, to go right.

**A/N Well…didn't expect that. Looks like I had excellent timing in bringing this back. In case you haven't heard (and any Heroes fan should have heard by now), just Google **_**Heroes Reborn**_**. Come back and thank me.**


End file.
